Dr. Stephens on Expert Technical Review Team
DBS&A Founder, Daniel B. Stephens, PhD, is participating on an Independent Technical Review (ITR) of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Chromium Interim Measures and Plume Characterization project. The project goal is to prevent migration of hexavalent chromium contamination beyond the LANL boundary, obtain required site data, and conduct a Corrective Measures Evaluation (CME). Dr. Stephens was selected as a panel member due to his specialized technical expertise in vadose zone hydrology and numerical modeling of groundwater contamination and his experience serving on several Department of Energy (DOE) technical review panels. Dr. Stephens is also engaged in the academic community; particularly, New Mexico Tech, where he serves as Part-time Acting Director of the Hantush-Deju National Hydrologic Innovation Center.
The ITR was requested by the DOE Office of Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) and New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) following disagreement between EM-LA and the NMED on the approach to control the spread of contamination. The ITR has been charged with evaluating and responding to questions related to: measures being taken to control the plume, plume modeling, additional NMED-proposed corrective actions, project readiness to propose a remedy, and the design of monitoring wells within the chromium plume.
More information on the project is located on the N3B Fact Sheet here. The project was featured on the local news station, KRQE in 2023.
Also, the Protecting Water Quality Environmental Management Cleanup Forum was hosted on April 18, 2024, by the DOE’s Environmental Management Los Alamos (EM-LA) Field Office and N3B, is available online. This forum presented an overview of the Expert Technical Review.
The ITR is being led by Dr. Inés Triay, Ph.D., Interim Dean, College of Engineering and Computing, and the Executive Director for the Applied Research Center, Florida International University. The Expert Technical Review Team is comprised of technical and regulatory experts, including:
Dr. Vedat Batu, Ph.D., P.E., Surface and Subsurface Hydrologist and Argonne Associate, Argonne National Laboratory
Dr. Fred Day-Lewis, Ph.D., Chief Geophysicist and Lab Fellow, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Inci Demirkanli, Ph.D., Senior Hydrogeologist, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Dr. J.F. “Rick” Devlin, Ph.D., Earth Sciences Professor, University of Kansas
Scott Ellinger, P.G., Geologist and Physical Scientist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6
Dr. J. Alexandra Hakala, Ph.D., Senior Physical Research Scientist and Senior Fellow, National Energy Technology Laboratory
Dr. Brian B. Looney, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Environmental Engineer, Savannah River National Laboratory
Dr. Charles Newell, Ph.D., P.E., Environmental Engineer, Vice President, GSI Environmental Inc.
Dr. Sorab Panday, Ph.D., Civil & Environmental Engineer, Principal Engineer, GSI Environmental, Inc.
Dr. Mark Rigali, Ph.D., Geology/Geochemistry, Principal Member of Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories
Dr. Daniel Stephens, Ph.D., Hydrology, DBS&A Founder (also Part-time Acting Director, Hantush-Deju National Hydrologic Innovation Center, New Mexico Tech)
Dr. Matthew J. Tonkin, Ph.D., Civil Engineering, Principal Hydrogeologist, President, S.S. Papadopulos & Associates, Inc.
Dr. Haruko Wainwright, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
David Wilson, Senior Strategist, Longenecker & Associates